In our 2022 year in review, the return of in-person events marked a highpoint, alongside remarkable individual achievements. There were also major advances in diagnostic equipment and therapies for myopia and macular disease.
With COVID-19 largely in the rear vision mirror, 2022’s running theme was “a return to normality”, with major product launches, business deals, personnel changes and breakthrough product launches shaping some of the biggest moments in the Australian ophthalmic sector.
Key business highlights
In a deal finalised in February this year, ASX-listed Healthia acquired the eight-practice business LensPro Optometrists, securing its largest optometry acquisition since its 2020 takeover of The Optical Company. The acquisition increased Healthia’s optical practice tally to 53, with LensPro helping expand its reach in southeast Queensland and northern NSW.
George & Matilda Eyecare welcomed several practices into the fold too, with the largest being Rolfe Optometry Group’s nine practices in New South Wales. Albany Creek Optometrists and Aspley Optical House, both in Brisbane, Optometrist Menai in Sydney, and Peter Baker Optical in Caringbah, NSW also joined the network.
In August, Vision Eye Institute announced it is expanding its existing laser service to South Australia, offering refractive surgery options including LASIK, ASLA/PRK and refractive lens exchange through its partnership with Eye Surgeons SA.
In the same month, Lions Eye Institute opened a state-of-the-art clinic in Midland, WA, ensuring people in Perth’s eastern corridor have access to high quality eye health services. While it had operated a clinic in the area for more than six years, its new purpose-built facility provides the opportunity to expand its service offering.
Also in WA, Fremantle Hospital opened a $5.5 million ophthalmology unit, bolstering one of the hospital’s busiest departments that sees almost 200 patients a day.
Private health provider SMS Healthcare made significant in-roads into the ophthalmology market in 2022, adding to its 14 clinics with the addition of three Queensland LASERSIGHT clinics and two clinics operating under the LASERSIGHT banner in Victoria and Tasmania. Then in October, it added two clinics with the acquisition of Dr Ilan Sebban’s Sydney Eye Clinic.
EyeQ Optometrists and National Optical Care (NOC) agreed to part ways in November, ending a two-year strategic alliance. Originally conceived during COVID, with a goal to support mutual growth plans, their disbanding means there will now be 25 EyeQ practices, and 21 NOC practices.
In the eyewear space, Kering Eyewear – a global company whose portfolio comprises Gucci, Cartier, Saint Laurent and other luxury brands, distributed in Australia by Sydney firm Sunshades Eyewear – acquired Maui Jim.
Key decisions and policies
In a move that sent shockwaves through the industry in July, Port Macquarie-based frames manufacturer, Optex Australia, successfully sought the removal of a 5% tariff concession enjoyed by acetate eyewear importers. Gazetted by the Australian Border Force (ABF), the move caught local wholesalers off guard, which has increased the cost of acetate eyewear imports from Europe.
ODMA sought a review of the decision, which was denied by ABF, so it is now planning to lobby at the government level. Watch this space.
Regulation was in the spotlight at various times throughout the year, beginning with the medical technology sector raising concerns in April over Prostheses List (PL) reforms. In the end, peak body the Medical Technology Association of Australia signed an agreement with the Federal Government that will see a staged reduction in the prices paid in the private system for some medical devices, to align them with prices paid in the public system, hopefully generating around $900 million in cost cuts for private health insurance policyholders.
In August, OA raised concerns about the agility of the national registration and accreditation system as part of its submission to a Senate inquiry into the way the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) handles registrations and complaints. OA took aim at the time it takes for Ahpra to respond to serious complaints like sexual misconduct, while also taking issue with tightened CPD requirements making it harder for optometrists to obtain exemptions while on parental leave.
Ahpra again made headlines in September when it announced a clampdown on rogue medical practitioners using the title ‘cosmetic surgeon’ by introducing an endorsement process to establish minimum qualifications. The decision was cautiously welcomed by ophthalmologists and oculoplastic surgeons, but details remain unclear on how the endorsement process will work.
Overseas, the optometry regulator in New Zealand approved a major scope-of-practice change allowing the profession to perform ophthalmic laser surgery, dismissing ophthalmology objections regarding safety and lost training opportunities for registrars. The policy came into effect on 1 July.
People and leadership
In a standout moment for the industry on the international stage, prominent Australian optical industry figure Mr Grant Hannaford was named the 2022 International Optician of the Year at SILMO Paris. Hannaford was one of only four finalists, including fellow Australian Ms April Petrusma, to be shortlisted for the International Opticians Association award.
Locally, the profession also shone with three ophthalmologists – Professor Graham Barrett, Dr David Moore and Professor Stephanie Watson – and optometrist Mr Geoffrey Fitzpatrick recognised in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours. In addition, ophthalmologists Dr James La Nauze and Dr Stephen Godfrey were recognised in the 2022 Australia Day Honours.
In business, Alcon announced two new appointments in January to lead the company’s Asia Pacific (APAC) operations. Mr Chintan Desai joined as the vice president of Alcon’s surgical business in APAC, while Ms Stephanie Waugh, previously vice president and global head of ocular health, was appointed vice president of vision care for the region.
EssilorLuxottica’s unification strategy took shape on local shores, with Mr Marco Caccini appointed to lead the new EssilorLuxottica Wholesale business for Australia and New Zealand in March. Two further key internal appointments included Mr Stephen Locke stepping into the role of VP – optical channel, leading the frames and lenses sales team, and Ms Larissa Brander leading wholesale marketing.
Meanwhile, one of the founding partners of Specsavers in Australia and New Zealand, Mr Charles Hornor, announced his departure after 16 years, in search of downtime and new challenges.
The eyecare sector welcomed several new CEOs in 2022; Cylite’s vice president of sales and marketing, Ms Kylee Hall, was promoted to CEO in April; Mr Mark Carmichael commenced as RANZCO CEO in May, Mr Richard Wylie commenced as Glaucoma Australia CEO in July, the same month Dr Kathy Chapman commenced as Macular Disease Foundation Australia CEO.
On the flipside, Optometry Australia CEO Ms Lyn Brodie, Vision 2020 Australia CEO Ms Patricia Sparrow and ProVision CEO Ms Frances Mirabelli each announced their resignation this year, with Mr Tony Jones stepping up as acting CEO at ProVision.
The profession lost four well-known individuals this year, with the passing of prominent NSW ophthalmologist and father-of-two Dr Con Moshegov (aged 59); Optical Distributors and Manufacturers Association (ODMA) board member and optical industry stalwart Mr Richard Grills (aged 80); South Australian optometrist Mr Ronald Fieldhouse (aged 97); and past Optometry Australia president Professor Brian Layland (aged 92).
Therapies and equipment
After much anticipation, EssilorLuxottica ANZ launched its Essilor Stellest lenses for myopia management in October. This followed CooperVision’s announcement that its MiSight 1 day contact lenses are now available in higher prescriptions, while Device Technologies and HOYA formed a strategic alliance to promote greater use of biometry in myopia management.
Elsewhere in the myopia space, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved EIKANCE 0.01% in March, Australia’s first low-dose atropine eye drop for myopia progression in children and young teenagers.
In another major approval, the TGA registered Vabysmo (faricimab) for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic macular oedema (DMO). Vabysmo, administered by four initial four-weekly eye injections, joins an expanding list of approved anti-VEGF therapies for macular disease in Australia, which currently comprises Eylea (aflibercept), Lucentis (ranibizumab) and, more recently, Beovu (brolucizumab). Lucentis was also granted its seventh indication, this time for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), making it the first anti-VEGF approval for the rare disease affecting premature infants.
Also on the horizon in macular disease, Australian biopharmaceutical company Opthea made a major leap towards bringing its therapy OPT- 302 to market after securing AU$245 million in funding from a major global investment firm. OPT-302 is a VEGF-C/D ‘trap’ inhibitor that Opthea is combining with ranibizumab or 2.0 mg aflibercept for nAMD in trials.
Ophthalmic surgery
Associate Professor Anthony Kwan performed Queensland’s first surgery for nAMD with an anti-VEGF port delivery system (PDS) that is approved in the US and may have regulatory clearance in Australia soon. Kwan operated on the first patient in Queensland – and 14th in Australia with Sydney-based Professor Adrian Fung performing the country’s first – with the therapy that slowly releases anti-VEGF medication within the eye (over 24 to 36 weeks).
Surgeons’ ability to perform glaucoma canaloplasty procedures took a step forward this year when Nova Eye Medical launched the iTrack Advance in April, building on the company’s proprietary iTrack device released in 2008. The main feature is an easy-to-use handpiece, in the hope that the procedure can be performed by a wider group of surgeons.
Vision Eye Institute’s Associate Professor Michael Lawless became the first Australian surgeon to perform successful SMILE Pro laser eye surgery this year. It uses the VISUMAX 800, the newest generation of ZEISS femtosecond lasers.
In another ‘first’, Australian ophthalmology network PersonalEYES, with 10 surgery clinics in NSW and ACT, offered a breakthrough method of measuring and combining data to generate a multi-dimensional model of the eye for more precise laser eye treatment, after installing Alcon’s Innoveyes system.
Key events and trade shows
Almost three years since its last major event, ODMA hosted a successful of OSHOW22 in May and hinted that it could become a permanent biennial fixture for Sydney. The optical trade fair attracted around 1,100 industry professionals who capitalised on the opportunity to view the latest releases from more than 70 suppliers across 130 booths.
Similarly, the long and weary return to an in-person RANZCO Scientific Congress came to an end in October/November, as the college put three years of disruption behind it to deliver the 53rd congress as a hybrid event at the Brisbane Exhibition and Events Centre. The event, which welcomed more than 1,700 in-person delegates, also marked several new governance changes for the college with Dr Grant Raymond elected president, Dr Andrew Thompson censor-in-chief, Dr Peter Hadden and Dr Sonia Yuen as new board directors and Dr Clare Fraser elected for a second board term.
Meanwhile, registration opened for an event taking place next year that is being hailed as the largest optometric clinical conference and trade show in the Southern Hemisphere.
O=MEGA23, in partnership with the 4th World Congress of Optometry, will be held in Melbourne in September 2023, following a partnership between ODMA, Optometry Victoria South Australia and the World Council of Optometry (WCO). The joint event is expected to attract more than 2,000 eyecare professionals.
Workforce
At the beginning of the year, when the nation was still at the mercy of the COVID pandemic, Victorian ophthalmologist Dr Anton van Heerden voiced his criticism of the state government’s month-long ban on non-urgent elective surgery, as cataract patients sat at home with deteriorating quality-of-life while day surgeries remained empty ready to operate.
At the time of writing, Portland District Hospital in regional Victoria was yet to find a replacement for ophthalmologist Dr Robert Harvey, who resigned this year after the hospital turned down his request for a contractual change that would have seen him become a visiting medical officer (VMO), allowing him to seek and train a successor.
His departure – with no obvious successor in sight – has created uncertainty for 150 patients on his surgical waitlist and thousands more attending regular clinics at PDH for chronic eye conditions.
The difficulties in finding ophthalmologists to work in regional areas is not limited to Victoria.
Further north, Tamworth native and mother-of-two, ophthalmologist Dr Phoebe Moore, recalled the events that led to her returning from Bristol, UK, to her hometown alongside her father Dr David Moore, which was facing a critical shortage of ophthalmologists.
Tamworth’s ophthalmology situation has since become a flashpoint in a push for policy change around how the government determines areas of workforce shortage.
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